Marine Mammal Friends

Summer camp is usually a time to swim, play and make new friends. But at a special summer camp in California, kids get to take care of sick and stranded baby seals. Kids learn to rescue and care for the injured baby elephant seals and sea lion pups. They cut up fish to make them nutritious smoothies. The last day of this camp is similar to other camps since the kids are both happy and sad as they say goodbye to their new friends. But at this camp, the healthy new friends are released into the Ocean. Listen to learn more about how this camp helps kids learn about seals.

Related Current Events

Going to the movies can be entertaining, but for some young people it can also be life changing. Short documentaries showing young people working to protect the planet are inspiring other youth to take action and stand up for change. Listen to learn more about these documentaries and the efforts they have inspired.

A new research article has ruffled the feathers of some scientists. The study questions whether it’s damaging endangered populations of birds and other species to collect them for scientific study. Many scientists see the collection of rare animals as a way to discover diseases and understand the past, while some ethicists see collection as a threat to small endangered animal populations. Listen to this audio story to learn more.

Starfish are mysteriously becoming infected by a deadly disease that causes their arms to fall off and makes regeneration impossible. Scientists are urgently trying to figure out how their sickness is affecting the rest of the marine environment.

Language Challenge Level

These levels of listening complexity can help teachers choose stories for their students. The levels do not relate to the content of the story, but to the complexity of the vocabulary, sentence structure and language in the audio story.

NOTE: Listenwise stories are intended for students in grades 5-12 and for English learners with intermediate language skills or higher.

Low

These stories are easier to understand and are a good starting point for everyone.

Medium

These stories have an average language challenge for students and can be scaffolded for English learners.

High

These stories have challenging vocabulary and complex language structure.